Story highlights

New Orleans City Council votes 6-1 to remove three statues and one obelisk

A majority of council members introduced the proposal at the mayor's request

(CNN)A
large crowd broke into cheers Thursday after the New Orleans City
Council voted to remove four monuments to the Confederacy from prominent
places in the city.

The 6-1 vote
means officials will take down statues of Gens. Robert E. Lee, P.G.T.
Beauregard and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. An obelisk
dedicated to the Battle of Liberty Place will also go.

It's
one of the strongest gestures yet by an American city to remove symbols
of Confederate history, following a trend in many Southern states to
take down the Confederate battle flag.

Historic
societies in the 300-year-old city supported the removal of the
monuments, and the proposal was introduced by a majority of City Council
members.

New Orleans' mayor wants Confederate monuments removed02:21

Mayor
Mitch Landrieu described the move as a "courageous decision to turn a
page on our divisive past and chart the course for a more inclusive
future."

Council
member Nadine Ramsey said New Orleans needed to stop living "underneath
the shadows" of monuments to people who supported slavery.

"We
need not honor these individuals and moments from the past that do not
meet our standards of decency, equality and nondiscrimination," she
said.

Council member Stacy Head cast
the only vote against taking down the monuments, saying the action would
create more division and not solve the city's real problems.

"It
will not improve the socioeconomic balance of the city," she said. "If
it would make the city more color blind, if it would create more
balance, I would sacrifice almost any physical object to get us to that
point."

Charleston slayings were a tipping point

17 photos:Charleston church shooting

Landrieu said the church slayings in Charleston, South Carolina, moved him to take action.

"As
we approach the Tricentennial, New Orleanians have the power and the
right to correct historical wrongs and move the City forward. The ties
that bind us together as a city are stronger than what keeps us apart,"
he said, according to a City Hall news release.

Monuments called 'nuisances'

The
ordinance approved by the council declares the Confederate monuments
"nuisances" and called for them to be removed. The statues are
unconstitutional, said the proposed ordinance marked Calendar No. 31,082.

"They
honor, praise, or foster ideologies which are in conflict with the
requirements of equal protection for citizens as provided by the
constitution and laws of the United States, the state, or the laws of
the city and suggests the supremacy of one ethnic, religious, or racial
group over another."

Monument supporters say it's not about race

Landrieu requested the vote to banish specters of racism. But opponents of the plan steered away from any racial argument.

Keeping
the figures of the Confederacy was not about preserving racial
injustice, they said, but about honoring figures who fought to protect
the city.

New Orleans, which was the
largest city in the Confederacy, fell to Union forces in 1862 and was
under federal occupation beyond the Civil War's end in 1865.

No place for Lee

One
prominent artist who wanted the figures gone also skirted the issue of
race. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, who is African-American, said that
Lee in particular had no historic place in the city.

"This
symbolic place in our city should represent a great New Orleanian, or
it should be an open space that represents our latest prevail and how
people helped us, not a person who had nothing to do with our city and
who indeed fought against the United States of America and lost," Marsalis told CNN affiliate WDSU.

Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard was a Louisiana native, and Confederate President
Jefferson Davis lived in New Orleans after the war and died there.

A fourth monument, probably the most contentious, will also be taken down.

6 photos:Evolution of the Confederate flag

The
monument to the Battle of Liberty Place commemorates an uprising in
1874 of the White League against federal forces and police in an attempt
to overthrow racially integrated governance put in place during
Reconstruction.

Former mayors, including Landrieu's father, Moon Landrieu, have attempted to have this monument removed or altered.

When
asked what would happen to the removed monuments, Landrieu suggested a
park that would reflect the complete history of the city, from before
the American Revolution to the present. That park, he said, would be a
place where "history can be remembered and not revered."

He said city leaders should consider forming a commission to decide what to do about other monuments.

Council
President Jason Williams said, "After a long and thoughtful debate on
this issue, I am pleased that we have reached a conclusion. Thank you to
all citizens who have participated and made your voices heard during
this process. We all may have differing perspectives, but share a common
love and concern for the City of New Orleans."